Strange accusation of Special Investigation Service against Armen Grigoryan

The coordinator of the “Reject Serzh” initiative Armen Grigoryan was detained on suspicion of holding illegal assemblies, as well as organizing and participating in mass disorders, the Armenian Special Investigative Service reports.

The most striking among many accusations brought against Armen Grigoryan is the accusation of an attempt of illegal invasion of the National Assembly building.

“Then, ignoring the legal requirement of the police and continuing the illegal assembly and mass disorder, on April 16, 2018, at approximately 4:00p.m. Armen Grigoryan directed the participants of the assembly along Baghramyan Avenue to the building of the National Assembly trying to illegally invade it,” the statement reads.

Aside from disputing the term “mass disorder” and assessing as to which extent the police demand and actions were adequate and legitimate, we would like to notice that the leader of the movement Nikol Pashinyan, as well as Armen Grigoryan, repeatedly stated that their aim was to block the building of the National Assembly,  prevent the entrance of the MPs, and, consequently, prevent their participation in the RA Prime Minister’s elections.  Neither Armen Grigoryan nor any other members of “My Step” and “Reject Serzh” initiatives called for invasion of the building of the National Assembly.

In addition, the Special Investigation Service reported about police officers who were injured in violence that day. We would like to remind once again that 46 citizens have applied for medical help after receiving injuries when police used special means. It is noteworthy that the police officers also suffered from the lightning grenades used by the police.